I'm delighted to be here tonight at The National Theatre to present the certificate marking the archive’s accreditation, and celebrate your success.

Archive Service Accreditation is the UK-wide standard for archive services. It is a national benchmark and quality standard. It recognises good performance across three important areas: organisational health, collections management and access.

Archive Service Accreditation is a partnership of the Archives and Records Association (UK), Archives and Records Council Wales, National Records of Scotland, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Scottish Council on Archives, The National Archives; and the Welsh Government through its Museums, Archives and Libraries Wales division.

There are over 2,500 archives across the UK, of which 104 have now gained Archive Service Accreditation. You now join the 4.3% of services in the country to earn the award – a great achievement.

And archives matter. They are our collective memory, allowing society to hold governments to account; to explore our collective and personal identities; to underpin research; to connect generations with stories from the past to the present to the future; and to inspire innovation and creativity.

This award is particularly special as the National Theatre is the 100th service to be awarded Accreditation, and the first theatre.

In assessing the National Theatre’s Archive, the Accreditation panel were hugely impressed by the archives considerable achievements and by how valued the archive is by the entire organisation. They also noted the

- collaborative working across the theatre’s departments
- clear contribution of archive service to theatre’s overall mission to open up theatre-making and theatre-history to all
- strong support from the Senior Management Team to deliver outward-looking and innovative ways of accessing the rich collections
- dedicated staff and the emphasis on professional development • emphasis on reaching new audiences and making collections and spaces both on-site and online - as accessible as possible

• commitment to increasing digital access and meeting digital preservation challenge

• ambition, professional commitment, collaboration that shines through the service

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Erin for her contribution to our work in developing Archives Unlocked, the government’s new strategic vision for archives which was launched in March last year, just next door at the Southbank Centre.

Once again, many congratulations. A well-deserved recognition.

I’d like to invite Lisa Burger to receive the award on behalf of the service.